MCA: Environmental Drivers of Snow Algae Bloom Dynamics, Physiology, and Life-Cycles

Western Washington University, Bellingham WA

Investigators

Abstract

Snow algae, a group of photosynthetic microorganisms that are adapted to live in frozen habitats, are the major group of primary producers in alpine and polar snow ecosystems. These organisms have complex life cycles intimately connected to environmental conditions and seasonal habitat transformations. When snow algae bloom on the top of snow, their high biomass darkens snowfields due to red-colored protective pigments produced inside the algal cells. Snow algae blooms increase melting of snow and glaciers, promoting more growth due to the availability of liquid water, and resulting in a positive feedback loop. Despite their ecological importance, we still do not know how blooms form. This project is studying the dynamics of snow algae blooms by addressing the relationships between snow algae physiology, growth and reproduction, and their environment using field and laboratory-based experiments. This research is also providing a primarily undergraduate institution with a new, powerful instrument for simultaneously measuring photosynthesis and carbon fixation in algae that can be used in the field and facilitate field-based experiments. The results of this study build capacity for further studies that will help predict snow algal environment-biology interactions into the future. The connection between snow algal bloom dynamics, life cycle, and environmental conditions represents an opportunity to study ecosystem responses to climate warming in a tractable system. This project lays the foundation for characterizing the fundamentals of carbon fixation and primary productivity in snow algal blooms. It also increases our understanding of the fundamental role that snow algae physiology plays in the growth and reproduction of snow algae across life stages adapted to different habitats. The proposed field and laboratory methods will allow the development of an experimental design to simultaneously measure habitat conditions, primary productivity, and carbon fixation in natural populations and serves as a launch point for future studies and continued collaboration. The snow algal system presents an opportunity to study the evolution of climate-ecosystem feedbacks in environments threatened by significant habitat loss over the next century. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.